Lewis p



L. P. NICHOLS.

GAME BOARD.

APPLICATION man APR. n ma.

1 ,303,494, Patented May 13, 1919 LEWIS P. NICHOLS, OFUNION'I'OWN,PENNSYLVANIA.

GAME-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 13, 1919.

Application filed Apri117, 1918i Serial No; 229,156.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwrs P. NIorIoLs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Uniontown, in the county of Fayette and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and usefullmprovement in Game-Boards, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention is designed as a game board or amusement device intendedfor either indoor or outdoor entertainment, the primary object being theprovision of a game involving a fixed field representative of a trenchthat will contain a plurality of targets and objects, such as figuresmade up to represent soldiers, guns, or other images, that areadequately spaced-apart and capable of being displaced or forciblyknocked over through the instrumentality of a missile, preferably in theform of an object made up to represent a bomb, to be thrown by theplayer, by

hand power.

It is my intention that the field representing the trench, will-besubdivided into a plurality of spaces, and targets, each tar get toreceive an object, either a soldier, gun, or image, the game to consistin running up a predetermined score by throwing the bomb "or missile,and knocking over a suflicient number of the loosely placed ob jects,soldiers, guns, or images, to aggregate the deciding score which winsthe game. Each and every object of whatever nature will have its own'determining value marked on or adjacent to the allotted space or target.

A further important feature involved in my invention consists ofvariable arrangements in the detail form of construction, whereby thetargets in the trench or field, are wholly concealed by a suitablebarrier, and entirely hidden and out of the line of vision of theplayer, thus rendering it'more or less diiiicult for the player tolocate the objects placed on the targets to be hit by the thrownmissile, and making it somewhata matter of skill and chance to theresult-- ant damage inflicted by the player or operator who will take aposition at a suitable distance removed from the game board to whollyconceal the targets from the line of-vision.

The formation shown in the accompanying drawing is illustrative of afolding or collapsible nature intended for indoor usage and when not inuse is capable of being reduced to a comparatively small space forconvenience in packing and the economy-0f space. However this foldingfeature is not absolutely essential to the efficiency of the game, butcan be constructed in various modified ways, that will not depart fromthe original idea and intention. For outdoor usage the trench wouldpossibly be made of a permanent construction, and on a scale suitabletospecific requirements, great latitude and elaboration in the size andarrangement of the trench, being. possible. There fore I do not confinemyself to the exact embodiment shown herewith, reserving the right tomake any necessary alterations after afurther reduction to practice,without departing from the scope of the claims.

ll ith the above objects in View my invention consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of a game board illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a cross sectional view takenon the line 0-0 of Fig. 2 said Fig. 2 is a diagrammatical or plan viewof the trench showing a plurality of targets or positions for thereception of the objects; Fig. 3 is a detail plan View inbr'okenformation showing the hinged construction of the corner sections; Fig. lis a fragmentary view in elevation of the hinged] construction unitingthe several sections of the board; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in crosssection of one corner of the trench showing a modified construction; andFig. 6 shows the bomb or missile to be thrown by hand when knocking overthe obj ects.

The floor or bottom of the trench is preferably made up of a pluralityof strips or separated pieces, designated by the reference letter A,each strip being divided into targets or spaces B provided with circlesof dilferent diameters, the innermost circle affording the norm-a1position for the object placed therein, indicated by C the other circlesbeing marked as having certain values in determining the count,depending on the position assumed by the object after being knocked downby the player. There will be a series of front line positions arrangedin approximate horizontal alinenient, and immediately back of this frontline will be a second or rear line made up of a plurality of aliningpositions, substantially as shown, no limitation being placed on thenumber of series of positions.

Immediately in advance of the front line positions is a barrier orprotecting wall and thus render it harder to knock over the objectsthrough the instrumentality of the thrown missile, which is designatedby the letter E.

- This said barrier may be made of solid opaque material, and thenpainted to indicate barbed wire entanglements, or earth thrown up out ofthe trench, or when the game is to be played outdoors, and is of apermanent character, this barrier may be actually made from barbed wireor earth, or in fact any other material suitable to its construction.Great latitude is deemed advisable in determining the most favorablematerial out of which to construct the game board in its entirety,special reference in this respect applying to the said barrier portion.

There will be a rearwardly disposed wall F, of predetermined height,which will afford a limiting means for confining both the objects andthrown missiles within the confines of the trench, the end sections Galso serving in this capacity and further aid in strengthening theconstructive features of the board. This rear wall will be suitablyadorned or painted to represent earth or other elements.

Rearwardly of the second line of positions I provide a dead line Hbetween which and the said rear wall F is a space I into which theplayer aims to knock the various objects in order to run up the scoreand win the game, the largest count being credited to the player when heor she succeeds in knocking the object from its normal position acrossthe dead line, and into the unoccupied space in the rear of said lastline.

In Fig. 5 is shown a slightly modified construction involving a raisedsection J along said dead line, in order to render it more difiicult inknocking the objects across said line, this raised section being of anydesired height or dimension.

The displacement of the objects placed in the extreme ends or cornertargets of the front line position, being somewhat harder to locate withthe thrown missile will accordingly count the most for the player whenknocked across the dead line, it being my ideathat the said cornerpositioned objects, should naturally count more than those that arecomparatively easy to hit. In this manner the various objects placed inthe second or rear line will not have the same value that is accordedthose objects that are placed in the front line and nearest to thebarrier.

This novel game will in all likelihood be Copies 01 this patent may beobtained tor five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner ofPatents,

termed, Bombing the trench, when it is utilized to carry out inminiature the idea of warfare, and the objects to be thrown at and hitby the bomb or other missile will consist of images made up to representenemy soldiers, together with additional objects made in the form ofmachine guns or other ordnance usually employed in trench warfare. Thetwo extreme corner positions of the front line will be occupied byimages representative of ofiicers, the killing of whom will credit theplayer with the largest count. Certain rules for playing the game willaccompany same, designating the value of each object when hit andknocked from its allotted position.

When adapted as an indoor game all of the cooperating elements that goto make up the device will be on a scale suitable for this specificusage, and when utilized as an outdoor game the size of the coactingparts will be increased.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A game board involving a field divided into a plurality of targetshaving variable values in determining the count; suitable objects orimages for positioning on the targets; a rearwardly disposed wall; aforwardly disposed barrier of suitable height for wholly concealing thetargets from the line of vision of the player; and a missile forknocking over the objects.

2. A game board involving a field representative of a trench dividedinto a plurality of targets having variable values in determining thecount, suitable objects or images representative of soldiers or guns forpositioning on the targets; a rearwardly disposed wall, end walls; aforwardly disposed barrier of suitable height for wholly concealing thetargets from the line of vision of the player; and a hand thrown missilefor knocking over the objects.

3. A collapsible game board involving a field representative of a trenchdivided into a plurality of targets arranged in two or more series, eachtarget having its determining value in -making the count; suitableobjects or images representative of soldiers or guns for positioning onthe targets; a rearwardly disposed wall; a dead line between said walland the rearwardly disposed series of targets; end walls; a forwardlydisposed barrier of suitable height for wholly concealing the targetsfrom the line of vision of the player; and a hand thrown missile forknocking over the objects.

Signed at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, this 10 day of April, 1918.

LEWIS P. NICHOLS.

Washington, 1). o."

